By now, you’re sure to have heard about Artemis Rising 2! It’s a special month-long event featuring stories by some of the best female and non-binary authors in genre fiction, airing across all the Escape Artists podcasts in February 2016.

We’re very pleased to announce that EA has commissioned a special art print for Artemis Rising 2 by none other than Galen Dara!

Galen likes monsters, mystics, and dead things. She has created art for Uncanny Magazine, 47North publishing, Skyscape Publishing, Fantasy Flight Games, Tyche Books, Fireside Magazine, Lightspeed, Lackington’s, and Resurrection House. She has been nominated for the Hugo, the World Fantasy Award, and the Chesley Award. When Galen is not working on a project you can find her on the edge of the Sonoran Desert, climbing mountains and hanging out with an assortment of human and animal companions. Her website is www.galendara.com plus you can find her on Facebook and Twitter @galendara.

Here’s an example of her wonderfully thoughtful pieces, included in the 2015 Spectrum Fantastic Art annual.

The year-long orbit is about to end, and the good ship Artemis returns to Escape Pod’s skies. Artemis Rising is a month-long celebration of the voices of women in science fiction. It is also a collaborative effort across the Escape Artists podcasts, including PodCastle and Pseudopod. Last year we received so many awesome submissions that we ended up running another handful of them in later months. Some reminders:

Artemis Rising is not a contest. There are no “winners” except for our listeners. Artemis Rising is a focused submissions window, but stories sent for it are also in consideration for non-February episodes. The reverse is not the case, although if you have a story pending that you’d like to have us consider for AR, just drop us a note. You may submit a single story for AR. This is in addition to subs in the normal queue, so if you already have one pending and want to send us something else for AR, that is also fine.

Artemis Rising is explicitly for female-identified or nonbinary authors. AR is also more interested in original fiction than reprints. These are the only restrictions beyond our usual length limits and genre expectations.

Submissions are open as of September 1 and will close at midnight on September 30. Begin the countdown; it’s time to light this candle!

Between now and December 20, 2014, Escape Pod is accepting submissions of woman-authored science fiction for ARTEMIS RISING, a month of audio fiction celebrating women in genre fiction, airing in February 2015.

Payment: $0.06 per word for original fiction; $0.03 per word for reprints We are an SFWA qualifying market for original fiction and pay professional rates.

Who can submit?

Anyone who identifies as a woman, to whatever degree that they do.  All non-binary folk are welcome.

Additionally, we strongly encourage submissions from people of backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented or excluded from traditional SF publishing, including, but not limited to, people of color, LGBTQ or non-binary gender people, persons with disabilities, members of religious minorities, and people from outside the United States.  Our goal is to publish science fiction that reflects the diversity of the human race, so we strongly encourage submissions from these or any other underrepresented groups.

What can I submit?

Science fiction stories between 2,000 and 6,000 words. You may submit up to 1 original story and 1 reprint for consideration in ARTEMIS RISING, although original stories are strongly preferred. If you already have a submission in regular Escape Pod slush, you may still submit to ARTEMIS RISING.

You can expect a response by mid-January 2015. Although we’ll be accepting a limited number of stories for ARTEMIS RISING, all submissions will also be considered for Escape Pod proper.

How do I submit?

Email your submissions to submit AT escapepod DOT org, using the subject line ARTEMIS RISING SUBMISSION: Storyname (e.g. “ARTEMIS RISING SUBMISSION: Attack of the Killer Space-Whales”)

Please follow regular Escape Pod guidelines for the story’s formatting. In your cover letter, please include the story’s word count, and for reprints, the story’s publication history.